


Gauntlet

by popfly



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Gapfillerpalooza, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-01-31
Updated: 2005-01-31
Packaged: 2017-11-10 04:26:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/462181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/popfly/pseuds/popfly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gapfiller for season two, episode three. Justin runs his own gay gauntlet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gauntlet

Justin couldn't even get his shoe laces tied.

His fingers were slick with sweat and shaking so badly he thought his hands would snap right off at the wrists. He tried three times, perched on the platform of the bed, his head ducked practically between his knees, swearing down at his feet before Brian came out of the bathroom and asked if he was okay.

"Just fucking great," was his response, and he didn't have to look up to know that Brian was arching a brow in his direction. He took the deepest breath he could while crunched down chest-to-thighs and focused so hard he could feel the blood pumping in his temples and he finally got the bows done.

"If you don't want to go ... " Brian let the end of his sentence trail off, a blue denim shirt hanging from his fingers, swinging slightly in Justin's peripheral vision.

"We're going." His legs felt like Jell-O and his shoulders were so tense he was sure they would be touching his earlobes soon but he had to stop having panic attacks at the diner when it was over-crowded and he had to be able to bus to and from Brian's because Brian wouldn't always be available to drive him everywhere. He pressed his palms on his knees and pushed up from the bed. "Let's go."

When Brian had asked if he wanted to go for a walk, Justin had immediately started to freeze up. His chest got tight and his Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped in air. All that after a hot shower, while they both still stood wet and naked in the bathroom. He knew Brian hadn't meant a casual stroll around the neighborhood; Brian didn't do casual strolls around the neighborhood.

Brian meant parking at the end of a street where people milled about constantly and putting themselves in the middle of the crowd. Brian meant wading through a sea of strangers that paid no heed to other people on the sidewalk, bumping and jostling. 

Justin never thought walking down the street would be so difficult.

Even with Brian standing strong by his side, holding tightly to his fingers and calming him when he cussed out the guy who made the mistake of running into him, Justin could feel the crowd pressing in on him. A bead of sweat rolled down his spine and his stomach clenched. 

He cringed away from the next guy who came within two feet of him and reconsidered Brian's initial offer of turning back towards the Jeep. He was about to open his mouth to say maybe it was a good idea when he saw the display in the window of the bookstore.

 _The Gay Gauntlet._ Howard Bellweather. 

Justin stopped and stared. And felt a surge of something that overpowered the buzz of anxiety, something that felt a lot like rage. The smug smirk on the asshole's face in the large gray and white photo in the display didn't help matters much.

Justin sneered at it and stepped away from Brian, not noticing the people rushing around him. He reached back and grabbed Brian's hand to pull him into the bookstore.

He might not be able to walk down a street without a chaperone, but he sure as hell could tell off a pretentious prick like Howard Bellweather.


End file.
